SCHOOL BELLS: Young artists get encouragement, opportunities

SAN ANGELO, Texas - San Angelo's growth as a center for art and artists is showing up in opportunities and successes for area students as well.

More teenage students will get a chance to pursue their interest in the visual arts, thanks to a $20,000 grant won by the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts from an organization called Texas Women for the Arts.

The grant, which was announced earlier this month, will be used for new programs specifically geared toward teens, the museum's education curator, Megan DiRienzo, said.

"It will be really exciting to get teens in here," she said. "We get high school kids in here once in a while but most of our visitors are elementary age so this will be nice to offer them programming as they grow up."

The first program, called Friday Art Night for Teens, will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Friday through June and July. The cost is $20 per week, which includes dinner, and the program is for ages 13 and older.

Teens will tour the museum and sketch in the galleries, then create artworks out of a variety of materials — ranging from traditional (like clay and paint) to more contemporary approaches involving digital media and recycled materials.

DiRienzo said the plan is for the teen classes to become a regular Friday night occurrence at the museum. She said the classes will include theory and art history.

"They get technique in school but not necessarily theory," she said. "They'll be learning about the whole entire art world. I know when I was in high school I didn't even know what art history was."

The grant award covers extra staff, supplies and additional utility costs the museum will incur as it is open later hours.

Second bell

Tucker Hermes, a student at the TLC Academy charter school, earned a medal and the highest rating of Superior at the state VASE contest for visual artists.

VASE, or Visual Arts Scholastic Events, has been held for about 20 years by the Texas Arts Education Association as a UIL level contest for Texas public school students.

Tucker's "The Eyes of the Beholder" is a mixed-media work using Sharpie markers and white-out correction fluid on poster board to create three-dimensional visual effects in a graphic pattern.

Tucker said he was inspired by "Sharpie Lamborghini," a car covered in patterns drawn by markers, a photo of which he saw in a magazine.

The sophomore said he got "into art" in seventh grade.

"I just got (the talent) from my dad, the gift, and started using it," he said.

His father is Michael Hermes, a San Angelo artist, and his mother, Kellye Hermes, is an administrative assistant for TLCA.

"The design of it, it's an illusion, that draws people to it," Tucker said of his winning artwork. "There were a lot of pieces like it at the state VASE competition, I was a little bit surprised."

He said his teacher, TLCA art and English teacher Judy Gonzales, is pushing him to try other techniques.

Gonzales said Tucker's artwork competed with 1,400 entries at the state level.

"(The contest) is very professionally handled and the goal is for the students to walk away with a positive experience," she said. "Not everybody wins but on the whole everybody has a positive experience."

Two of Tucker's classmates also medaled, Savannah Allbright and Alayna Turney.

Tucker plans to enter again.

"Next year," I'll be qualified to go to national and get scholarships, if I get to state again," he said.

Third bell

Grape Creek ISD celebrated the artistic success of two of its sixth-graders, Lahki Decker and Travis Walker, at its school board meeting earlier this month.

The two students were honored for being in the top 10 of 1,200 sixth-graders who participated in the annual Art 2 Music program sponsored by the San Angelo Symphony Guild.

The program, at which students create art while listening to the San Angelo Symphony perform classical music, is "designed to help students express their creativity through the intersection of classical music and visual art," according to the symphony guild's website.

Lahki created a graphically-inspired drawing of a flower in a vivid shade of purple and Travis created a glowing sunset reflected in water.

The students donated their artwork to Grape Creek ISD, which plans to display it on one of its campuses.

Laurel L. Scott reports on education for the Standard-Times. Contact her at lscott@gosanangelo.com or 325-659-8381.